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Category: Science

Save the Planet, it’s the only one we’ve got… or is it?

Posted on April 17, 2010 By David Shiffman 8 Comments on Save the Planet, it’s the only one we’ve got… or is it?
Science

In honor of President Obama’s newly announced space exploration plan, I am reposting one of my favorites from the old site. Original comments can be found at the old site.

On this blog, we’ve discussed how many current fisheries practices are completely unsustainable, because we are simply taking too many fish from the oceans. We’ve also discussed how we can’t just stop fishing because too many humans need the food.

We’ve  discussed the energy crisis, and how some the present methods our civilization uses to power our lives are destroying the planet through pollution, environmental destruction, and emissions that cause global warming. We’ve also discussed the fact that people need energy.

We’ve discussed how some current mining practices, such as top-mining, are an environmental catastrophe. However, it is undeniable that we need the minerals that come from mining.

Many more problems are facing the world today. There simply isn’t enough room for all the people we have, and there are more people every day (and less room for them because of sea level rise). Many people today simply don’t have enough fresh water to drink, and thousands die each day from this– a problem that is only getting worse as population increases. The present economic crisis, one of the worst of all time, means that in addition to millions being out of work, governments don’t have money for solutions to these problems.

Things look pretty grim…. but is there any kind of solution that can solve all of these problems at once? A universal solution, as it were (pardon the pun)?

To find it, we need to think well outside of the box. In fact, we need to look in a whole new direction.

Read More “Save the Planet, it’s the only one we’ve got… or is it?” »

Michael Specter takes on Pseudoscience

Posted on April 14, 2010April 14, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 1 Comment on Michael Specter takes on Pseudoscience
Popular Culture, Science

Michael Specter gives a talk at TED2010. ~Southern Fried Science

World’s deepest hydrothermal vent found!

Posted on April 12, 2010April 12, 2010 By Andrew Thaler
Science

At 5000 meters in the Cayman Trough. Check out the rest of the videos at the ExpeditionLog YouTube channel and follow Dr. Jon Copley on Twitter @expeditionlog. ~Southern Fried Scientist

10 reasons why marine mammals aren’t as cute as you think they are

Posted on April 8, 2010October 31, 2013 By David Shiffman 44 Comments on 10 reasons why marine mammals aren’t as cute as you think they are
Science
Image from PrettyFabulous.com

When people learn that I’m a marine biologist, they often assume I got into this career because I want to be a dolphin trainer. The general public seems to believe that marine mammals are cute and cuddly and innocent, but sharks are cruel and evil and bad. In reality, nature is an amoral place- our morality is, by necessity, anthropocentric and doesn’t really relate to the wild behavior of animals. If this wasn’t the case, though, here are ten reasons why marine mammals aren’t as cute and cuddly and innocent as people sometimes think they are.

Read More “10 reasons why marine mammals aren’t as cute as you think they are” »

Reader mail: Sustainable shark finning?

Posted on April 5, 2010April 5, 2010 By David Shiffman 5 Comments on Reader mail: Sustainable shark finning?
Conservation, Science

Our latest reader mail comes from my friend Mike, who writes for the conservative political blog SaveTheGop. Though we don’t agree on much, he’s usually a reasonable guy. His question concerns a post I recently wrote about Hawaii’s proposed bill to ban the sale of shark fins within their state.

Read More “Reader mail: Sustainable shark finning?” »

WhySharksMatter’s 2nd PCR

Posted on April 5, 2010April 5, 2010 By David Shiffman 1 Comment on WhySharksMatter’s 2nd PCR
Science

After the failure of my first PCR, we tried again. This one is more successful. Of my 7 samples, 5 amplified. We aren’t sure why the other two didn’t, so I’m going to try to re-extract DNA from them and try a few different primers with them this week.

Read More “WhySharksMatter’s 2nd PCR” »

An update on WhySharksMatter’s first PCR

Posted on March 31, 2010April 4, 2010 By David Shiffman 1 Comment on An update on WhySharksMatter’s first PCR
Science

I know that many of you have been losing sleep over the questionable quality of my first PCR and gel. Well, the mystery has been solved! My lab partner made the gel with DI water instead of with TAE/agarose solution. Not only is that an easily fixable problem for the future… it’s something that, for … Read More “An update on WhySharksMatter’s first PCR” »

WhySharksMatter in College of Charleston magazine

Posted on March 30, 2010April 4, 2010 By David Shiffman
Conservation, Science

The most recent issue of the College of Charleston magazine came out this week, and it features an article about sharks by yours truly! Check it out below. Suggestions and critiques are appreciated. I know it’s hard to read- here is a link to the online article.

Read More “WhySharksMatter in College of Charleston magazine” »

Crowdsourcing ConGen – Populations in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

Posted on March 27, 2010April 4, 2010 By Andrew Thaler
Conservation, Science

This post is part of the Crowdsourcing ConGen project. Crowdsourcing is the process of opening up a resource to a community for input and contributions. Throughout the coming year I’ll be posting manageable pieces of this document for the audience of Southern Fried Science to read and review. Please visit the main post for an overview.

“I have never done anything useful. No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity of the world.” ~ Godfrey Harold Hardy

The simplest model for a population is one in which the frequencies of alleles and genotypes remains constant from generation to generation. Under this model, there are no outside forces influencing selection, there is no tendency for any allele or genotype to be favored over any other, diploid alleles will recombine randomly in accordance with Mendelian inheritance. A population that behaves this way is said to be in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. This almost never happens.

Read More “Crowdsourcing ConGen – Populations in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium” »

Kary Mullis’ Eureka Moment

Posted on March 26, 2010April 4, 2010 By Andrew Thaler
Science

In honor of Dave’s first PCR result (or lack thereof), here’s Dr. Kary Mullis discussing the discovery of the polymerase chain reaction. ~Southern Fried Scientist

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